Suicide Wings from Hickory’s Smokehouse in Chester

Last weekend we popped down to Chester on our way to do some walking in Wales (which you will be able to read about here and here sooner or later)

After a day that included a few beers, a rather sweaty pedalo trip and more than it’s fair share of Romans we headed for Hickory’s Smokehouse, I was a little bit more than excited after seeing their website as It was one of those places I would eat nearly everything on the fantastic looking menu, not to mention a rather cool beer list.

The main reason I was exited though was the thought of trying the Suicide Wings. The menu simply said “Suicide Wings, you have been warned”

After seeing the size of the main courses going past I decided to just order the 6 wings, knowing that If they were hot there was no way anyone else would help me finish them off.

A few minutes after arriving and half a Goose Island Honkers Ale later the 6 wings arrived on a plate, smothered in a really pungent chilli sauce alongside a whole griddled chilli and a pot of extra sauce.

The sauce smelled fantasic, really rich and spicy with a slightly sweet note to it too. I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. After the first bite I knew these were going to be hot as the chilli caught the back of my throat which started my nose running. The sauce was sticky, slightly honey sweet and had a lovely spicy and almost smokey flavour, there was a nice garlic (I think) twang too, the burn built up as I ate my way through the wings. By the time I had finished I knew I’d eaten something spicy and something a little bit special, because while they were scorchio they were also packed with plenty of other flavours that the chilli didn’t obiliterate, this is surprisingly hard to find when trying these sorts of foods in places.

The wings them selves were really juicy and had plenty of meat on, there was plenty of sauce covering them and they were really sticky and moreish. They cost just under £8 for the 6 which I think is a little on the high side considering the rest of the starters looked more keenly priced.

I’d definitely go back and I’d definitely have these again, all the other food we had that day was top notch too, my smoked beef brisket was ridiculously soft and delicious and the coleslaw cut through the richness of the BBQ sauce excellently. If you are any where near Chester its worth popping in, no wonder the restaurant was busy all day and late into the night.